Jay turned to look at her.
“And you just went moist, didn’t you?”
“Um.”
In fact, the she-wolf felt a stirring that was unlike anything she’d ever experienced for her pack mates. Heat radiated through her voluptuous form and seemed to settle on the most sensitive point between her legs, which was telling her that it had a mind of its own and was currently calculating the mathematical odds as to whether it would find a way to persuade its owner to wrap her legs around the god who’d just walked in.
The word “horny” didn’t begin to describe what Kyla was experiencing at that moment.
“Who the hell is he?” she asked when she could finally form a sentence.
“Other than the sexiest man alive? I don’t know. But boy howdy, I’d like to get my teeth into him.”
“You and me both.”
“You should go over and talk to him. Buy him a beer.”
“I couldn’t. I’m too…shy,” said Kyla even as Jay slid out of the booth and began to walk. “No, no, no, what are you doing?”
She was too late. Jay had already gotten halfway to the man.
“You need another beer,” he shouted back over his shoulder as he made his way through the crowd. “And possibly some sex.”
The stranger was now standing at the bar, where a pocket of space had formed around him. The tourists seemed unwilling to get too close, and no wonder. He was daunting, even to a powerful wolf shifter. The largest man around, usually, was Tristan, but he and the other male members of the Longtooth pack were more sleek and streamlined; powerful in their speed and grace. This man was a tank, and not to be trifled with.
“Hey there,” said Jay as he approached. Unlike the humans, he felt more curiosity than fear of the stranger.
“Hi,” said the man, turning to look at the slim, blue-eyed male who stood before him. The visitor’s body language conveyed an air of caution, but not coldness.
“Three beers, Cam. Two for Kyla and me, and one for this fellow,” said Jay, turning to the stranger who, he realized, was even larger than he’d appeared to be from across the room. “You’re not from around here,” he added.
“No, but you are, I see, given that you know the bartender’s name. And even if you didn’t, I’d know you were a pack member right away by your eyes.”
“We’re not good at hiding it, are we?” said Jay.
“No, not so much. I suspect that’s why there are four thousand people crammed in here like sardines.”
“You suspect right,” said Jay. “This place isn’t quite as homey as it used to be.”
“And how does your pack feel about that?”
“Funny; my friend and I were just talking about that. Why don’t you come join us? She’d very much like to meet you.”
With that, Jay nodded his head towards the table where the female shifter sat, curious and mortified at once. Jesus, Jay, what are you doing? she thought.
The gorgeous man turned and looked at Kyla, who was nervously curling a strand of hair around her index finger. She tried to look straight ahead but found her eyes veering of their own volition towards the stranger. She couldn’t help but smile at him. Thankfully, he smiled back, one corner of his mouth lifting higher than the other to form a disarmingly crooked grin. A dimple formed on his stubbled right cheek.
“You. Are. Perfect,” thought Kyla.
“Your friend would like to meet me, would she?” said the man to Jay.
“Well, she hasn’t said it in so many words, but I can read her like a book.”
“Very pretty book. Nice cover.”
“She’s not bad, no. And she’s smart, too. And you should see her in wolf form. Meow.”
“Though I don’t think that’s the sound wolves make, I’ll just say that seals the deal. You’ll have to introduce us…um…”
“Jay.”
“Jay. I’m Maddox.”
The two took their beers from the bar and walked back to Kyla. She could smell the stranger acutely now; it was a scent that she wasn’t familiar with. Musky, but different from the men of her pack. Whatever it was, she liked it and found herself flushing. She wondered if it was possible for men who weren’t shifters to find women of her shape appealing.
“Kyla Greene, I’d like you to meet Maddox,” said Jay, winking at his friend who was seething with rage at his cockiness. This was quickly replaced by a giddiness at having the delicious-smelling god so close by.
“Nice to meet you, Kyla Greene,” said the broad-chested beast of a male.
“And you, Maddox,” she replied. As she did so, she ran a few fingers through her long hair and cursed herself when they got caught up in a knot. Always the smooth operator.
“So you’re another wolf,” Maddox said as he slid into the booth opposite her.
“I am. In sheep’s clothing,” she said, pulling at her light wool sweater. As she did so, she realized that it might appear that she was trying to show off her cleavage.
Stop fidgeting, Kyla, she told herself, feeling less like a confident woman than usual and more like a starry-eyed girl.
She could see his chest now, his tanned skin decorated with the strange tribal-looking black marks, jagged points and spirals; beautiful decorations on his beautiful body.
His pectoral muscles created a definition which reminded her of statues of perfectly-sculpted men that she’d seen.
“Well, let me shake the sheep’s hand and we can make this a formal introduction,” said Maddox.
Kyla realized that he’d been extending his own hand to her for a while now, and she took it in hers.
He was hot to the touch, as though he’d just had his palm wrapped around a hot cup of tea. As her more delicate fingers grasped his strong ones, she froze. Her mind was exploding in a quick series of internal images. It was like what she imagined happening when one’s life flashed before their eyes; events unfolding in rapid succession. But they were a confused jumble of images; the visions made no sense: an injured animal in the woods. A kiss. A man in a light-coloured jacket. A crying woman. Happiness, sadness, pain, grief all in one split-second.
Kyla felt winded.
“Oh my God,” she said as she gasped for breath, realizing that no one else had any idea what had just happened.
“Sorry, did I hurt you?” asked Maddox.
“It’s just…your…your hands are warm. And big. That’s all.” Kyla did her best to calm herself.
“Well,” said Maddox, his grin widening, “you know what they say about a man’s hands.”
“Warm hands, warm heart?” Her voice was innocent, though her mind, settling down quickly, was now occupying itself with thoughts as to what might be encased in the well-fitting jeans.
“Not exactly the phrase I had in mind.”
“Well, that’s as far as I’m willing to go for now, Maddox. I’m a very polite little thing, and I don’t normally speak to strange men in bars. Unless my idiot friend here forces me to.”
“Most of the men who come in here aren’t worth speaking to,” said Jay.
“It’s true; they usually just want us to shift for them. I’m convinced that they just want to see us naked when we change back,” said Kyla. “It’s a game they like to play.”
“Who can blame them for that?” asked Maddox. The dimple reappeared. “I can’t imagine passing up an opportunity to see you naked.”
He was studying Kyla’s face, but his eyes veered downwards and examined as much of her as he could see, which made her squirm in her seat. She felt that the man was devouring her with his eyes and the thought of it, though disconcerting, was incredibly exciting. She was glad to have worn a sweater that showed off her ample breasts, and sensed that Maddox was grateful for it as well.
As the three conversed, a young woman broke away from the crowd of tourists who’d managed to stay away, and walked straight up to Maddox. She was young, blond and skinny. The sort of thin woman with large breasts who irritated Kyla just by existing. There was th
e sort of dewy youthful look to her that denoted a lack of hardship and experience in life.
“Hi,” said Maddox as she stood next to him, staring down at his face and body. He didn’t offer her the smile that he’d displayed for Kyla. Instead, he seemed cold and aloof, almost irritated.
The woman didn’t seem to mind, however, and she crouched down beside the big man and slid a hand under the table. Kyla couldn’t see where it was headed, but she could guess.
Without missing a beat, Maddox took her wrist gently between two of his long, thick fingers and pulled it away from his crotch. He then wrapped his hand firmly around her arm and forced her to stand, pushing her away from the table.
She backed off, still smiling, but looking a little apprehensive now.
“My friends and I just wanted to see if you’re as big as you look,” she said, as a group of other young women in the corner of the pub began to giggle.
Maddox slid out of the booth and stood before her, his mass casting a shadow across her small form.
The woman seemed tiny; as though the hulking Maddox could pick her up and snap her like a twig.
“Oh God,” said Kyla under her breath.
Maddox let go of the woman’s arm. She stood before him, clearly awaiting an invitation to dinner or some sort of congratulations on her incredibly forthright nature.
Instead, the giant man slowly took off his boots, which was not a move that anyone had anticipated. Then he unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it off, revealing a wide, muscled chest and broad shoulders, sculpted and decorated with the black tattoos that seemed to have been designed to accentuate his impressive form.
For a moment, Kyla wondered if the two strangers were going to have sex in the middle of the pub, and she began to back into the corner of her bench, irritated that the world was populated with such unbearable women.
Not to mention the fact that only a minute ago, this man had been flirting with her. Maybe he wasn’t so appealing after all.
But then things changed.
Or rather, Maddox did.
In a flurry of twisting, glistening flesh, tearing fabric and dark brown fur, Maddox, the perfect man, altered into something else.
The young woman, less certain now that feeling him up was a great idea, sprang back, as did every other human in the pub.
“Now, this is more like it,” thought Kyla as the giant grizzly stretched to his full height before her. She watched, her face erupting in an expression of amusement and curiosity. She’d never seen any sort of shape-changer other than the members of her own wolf clan; she hadn’t even been sure they existed. She’d always hoped so, though.
As he stood facing the woman, who was now frozen in place, the bear’s upper lip pulled back into a snarl and he reared up on his hind legs, letting out a tremendous roar in the direction of both her and the rest of the tourists who were now sensibly gathered, terrified, by the door. His head reached nearly to the pub’s high ceiling and his enormous paws waved threateningly, their claws putting the long canines of the wolves to shame.
The members of the wolf pack who were sitting around the bar watched with the same calm amusement as Kyla and waited to see what would happen.
Another human opened the door and the throng tried to rush out, so quickly that groups greater than two people wide kept getting stuck in the doorframe and crying out, as though the bear would swallow them whole if they didn’t reach the outside quickly.
“Classic,” said Jay, howling with laughter. “Give the people what they want, I always say. Well done, Maddox.”
Finally, all the humans including the foolish blonde had made it safely through the door, which was now closed behind them. At last, if only for a moment, the Lion’s Head had reverted to its former glory: a shifter hangout, now with a new honorary member.
The grizzly turned again to Kyla, who was standing now, examining him. She studied his enormous head, which was level with hers. It was powerful and beautiful in its own right, much like its human counterpart. Kyla wanted to touch him, to feel his fur, but she regarded it as disrespectful to handle a shape-changer uninvited.
Maddox’s body took up most of the floor space in front of the bar and Kyla marvelled at how much larger he was, even, than her pack members.
“Cam, could we get a towel please?” she said to the barkeep when she’d had a moment to examine Maddox. The wolves had found ways of covering themselves over the years. Sometimes they simply wandered nude, though most were relatively modest. But Cam was kind enough to have prepared for situations like this by stashing large beach towels and even some extra clothes behind the bar.
“Sure thing, Ky.”
Maddox’s clothing lay all over the floor, mostly in small torn pieces, and he would be nude when he changed back to human form. Kyla suspected that any items of clothing behind the bar would be far too small for this man.
Maddox understood what was going on and as soon as the towel was ready, he shifted into human form and, straightening to his full height, took it from her hand.
“Thanks,” he said.
He wrapped it casually around his waist, but not before Kyla had snuck a brief glance at the impressive member dangling on display between his legs.
“Hung like a grizzly,” she thought. “Oh my. I suppose it’s true what they say about a man’s hands after all.”
Between her legs, she felt the coolness of her now seriously moist panties and wondered how it was possible to be so utterly turned on by a person she hardly knew.
“So, how about some food?” said Maddox, seemingly unfazed by the events of the last few minutes.
“I’m in,” said Kyla, trying to snap out of her daydream. “The guys here cook a mean steak.”
“Coming right up, Ky,” said Cam, who was listening intently, amused and interested in the new development.
They sat down back at the booth with Jay, after Maddox had gathered his clothing off the floor. His shirt was still intact of course, and so were the chaps, which apparently were designed to tear away from his form in this sort of situation. Kyla sort of wished he’d put them back on without the jeans, which were now a write-off.
She settled for gratitude that he didn’t seem in a rush to put his shirt back on.
“So,” said Jay after things had settled, “what’s a bear like you doing in Wolf Rock?”
“A fine question,” said Maddox. “I’m looking for someone.”
“Anyone we can help you find?”
“Probably not. But thanks.”
“Is it a girl?” asked Kyla, attempting to make the question sound innocent and indifferent, though she knew perfectly well that it was far from it.
Maddox turned to her with his crooked, knowing smile. “No. Not a girl. It’s just a guy I knew when I was younger. I’ll find him sooner or later.”
“Well,” said Jay, “I’m pleased to meet you, and that you two deemed me a worthy dinner companion, but I’m going to head out and let you get to know each other.”
With that, he winked at Kyla, who was moderately annoyed and extremely grateful.
“Ky,” Jay added, “you’re not on patrol tonight, are you?”
“No, it’s Dascha tonight. He’ll be happy about it. He loves responsibility, that enthusiastic young pup. I think I’ll go sleep at the cabin so I can check in first thing and see how he made out.”
“Maybe he won’t be the only wolf making out tonight,” replied Jay, who was beginning to tread on thin ice. Kyla glared at him and let out a low growl.
“I’m speaking, of course, of myself,” said Jay. “I plan on picking up a puma on my walk home.”
“Good luck with that. I hear they’re prudes,” said Maddox.
“I’ll just have to work my charms on him then. I’ll see you tomorrow, Ky.”
“Yeah. Have a good night, Jay. Don’t get bitten.”
“Good to meet you, brother,” said Maddox.
“Is it typical for you guys to patrol at night?” asked the bear shifter
when Jay had left.
“Yeah. Every night at least one of us is on the lookout through our territory. Since the show aired we’re especially careful; people are always trying to find our cabin and the last thing we want is for anyone to figure out its location. Of course if they did, there’s not much we could do about it. It’s not like we’re going to kill them, regardless of the fact that a lot of people seem to think we would.”
“There’s too much of that: paranoia and interest in shifters lately, ever since that damned show. No offense. I know it was your pack’s project.”
“None taken. I was against it from the start. And it wasn’t our new alpha’s idea. It was Craig, the ousted wolf, who’s gone to a better place.”
“Yeah? Where’s that?”
“New York.”
“I see.”
“He has it in his tiny brain that he can get a job as an actor now that he’s been on TV. The sad thing is that he’s probably right.”
Kyla found herself studying Maddox closely as they spoke. She gave herself an excuse to stare at his body by examining the black markings on his pronounced shoulders.
“What can you tell me about your tattoos?” she asked.
“Oh, these,” he said, looking down at his chest and arms at the dark designs. “They were inspired by my heritage. My father is Maori.”
“Really? I’ve heard about them. Warriors, right? It’s not often that you meet a Maori in this part of the world.”
“My mother was a big traveler when she was younger, and she and my dad met when she was in New Zealand on a trip years ago. They came back here…well, not here. Montana. And settled down on a ranch.”
“So are they both morphs?” It was possible to become a shifter if only one parent had the genes, but not all that common.
“Yes. My mother’s a bear, like me. My father is a little special,” Maddox said, grimacing slightly. “He’s a true shape-changer. He can morph into a number of things, though it’s been a long time since he’s done any of that.”
“Why’s that?”
“A number of reasons that I don’t want to get into right now. Let’s just say that he’s grown cautious over the years. So has my mother.”
Bearing Up In Wolf Rock (A BBW Bear Shifter Romance) (Wolf Rock Shifters) Page 2